Indiana 23 project on schedule

Five Points will become a four-way intersection with traffic light

SOUTH BEND -- Sometime before fall 2014, the complicated Five Points intersection on the city's northeast side will cease to exist.

Five Points -- where South Bend Avenue, Eddy Street and Corby Boulevard converge -- will be replaced with a traditional four-way intersection with a traffic light as part of the $7.2 million Indiana 23 widening and improvement project that is under way.

The current traffic configuration at the Five Points intersection has existed since the 1890s, according to historical maps of South Bend.

Some dramatic changes already are visible as the InDOT project proceeds.

The project is affecting 66 properties. Houses south of Indiana 23 between Five Points and the Boy Scouts of America-LaSalle Council headquarters were purchased and demolished. That land now is being prepared for the widened roadway.

Two-lane Indiana 23 will be widened to four lanes along that stretch, with a middle turn lane created along some sections.

The project is on schedule and should be completed by fall 2014, Deitchley said.

Changes motorists will see as the project progresses:

The Five Points intersection will disappear, replaced with a traditional four-way intersection east of its current location. Indiana 23 will curve to the south and follow Eddy Street, while Corby Boulevard and Howard Street will be connected to provide an east-west artery

The Indiana 23-Twyckenham Drive intersection (just east of Innovation Park at Notre Dame) will be upgraded to a traditional four-way intersection.

Campeau Street will be wider and extended west to connect to South Bend Avenue near Notre Dame Avenue, providing a traffic route into downtown.

Traditional four-way traffic signals will be installed at the following intersections: Indiana 23 and Twyckenham; Indiana 23 and Corby/Howard; and Indiana 23 and Campeau.

A traffic signal also is being installed a short distance south on Eddy Street, at the intersection with Cedar Street. That traffic light addition is a city project and is not part of the state's Indiana 23 work, Deitchley said.

Indiana 23 -- also known as South Bend Avenue through the northeast neighborhood -- currently is heavily traveled by motorists making daily commutes in and out of downtown.

When the project is complete, it is expected that many motorists will turn onto Campeau Street, then proceed onto South Bend Avenue and Niles Avenue to reach downtown, and vice versa, Deitchley said.

But others likely will choose to continue south on the improved Indiana 23 (Eddy Street), then turn west on LaSalle Avenue, Colfax Avenue or Jefferson Boulevard to reach downtown, he said. "That should help with congestion," he said.